BRAVE GNU WORLD

This column looks into projects and current affairs in the world of free software from the perspective of the GNU Project and the FSF. In this issue, we focus on AmavisdNew, a new daemon that operates as a spam filter.

The computer industry has not found an easy solution to the problem of spam. Solutions vary, but combination of various approaches seems to make the most sense. One of the most useful approaches is to allow the mail server to filter messages before forwarding them to the user. Many projects are working on this problem, and we have looked at some of them in this column, SpamAssassin [5] for example. But this month we’ll focus on a different approach: filter networks. Many administrators have started applying multiple filters, combining spam and antivirus scanners, for example, or using multiple filters to achieve more hits. There are no limits to the effort you can put into this, but the more complex a system becomes, the more susceptible it is to configuration errors.

This column looks into projects and current affairs in the world of free software from the perspective of the GNU Project and the FSF. In this issue, I’ll focus on Comspari and the EU decision on software patents.

During the ongoing battle against spam, admins should inspect their troop’s battle lines from time to time. If you don’t relish the thought of counting the dinnerware, you can use the services of a logfile inspector like SendmailAnalyzer, which works surprisingly well with Postfix and the like.

This column investigates projects and current affairs in the world of free software from the perspective of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation. In this issue, I’ll focus on Mbox-Cleaner and report on the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre.